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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for our Partner Churches.
On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!
YWAM Queenstown DTS team at a YWAM Bangkok partner church: Khlong Toey Church
Photo credit: YWAM – All Nations Bangkok
God has commissioned the local church to go into all the nations and preach the gospel. As YWAMers, we could not do what we do without our partner churches. These partnering churches send us, pray for us, support us and are alongside us for training, church planting, mercy ministry and other gospel-related activities. The relationship between the church and those who are sent is a beautiful partnership, one that God has chosen to change the entire world!
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
Acts 16:5 (NKJV)
Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, this month to pray for our partner churches on November 9. We ask you to celebrate this partnership on a local level by praying for your partner churches, and if you sense God’s leading, by taking action to strengthen those relationships. If you have only a few minutes to pray this month, please pray for the health of your partner churches and that God would bring blessings to them. If you are praying with a group or if you have more time to pray, please see below for the complete list of prayer suggestions.
Serving Chai in Partnership with a Local Church Outreach
Photo Credit: YWAM Brisbane
Prepare to Pray:
Take a moment to bring to mind the congregation of your partner church, whether at home or in your present location. And then consider the lead pastor of this congregation.
What are all the things the pastor of a congregation such as this would have to think about, take responsibility for, or take care of? As a group, use a whiteboard or large sheet of paper to brainstorm all the ideas that come to mind in response to this question. Make note of as many things as you can.
Next, take some time to reflect on how such a pastor might feel about all these responsibilities, concerns, and opportunities. Enter into those feelings as much as you can.
Finally, as you hold before God these possible feelings and needs, ask Him how He might like to love, encourage, and strengthen this church leader through you. What comes to mind as a response, whether in prayer or in action? Share these ideas with one another and make a note, so that you can follow through on Holy Spirit’s prompting.
Mark Nebauer said, “YWAM goals are realized while churches go forward. A true win-win situation.”.
Pray for Our Partner Churches:
- Praise God for successful partnerships that YWAM has had and is having around the world with local churches and sending churches.
- Praise God for your partner churches.
- Pray for the health of your partner churches and ask the Lord to bless them.
- Pray for unity and healthy and equitable partnerships between YWAM locations and partner churches.
- Pray for solid relationships between YWAMers and the people of the local church. Pray for YWAMers to make consistent commitments to the local church.
“The healthy cooperation of the local church and global mission is a major threat to the kingdom of darkness.”
Lynn Green, a YWAM leader
- YWAM provides opportunities for churches to engage in mission through outreaches for church youth groups, serving opportunities for adults through Mission Builders, mission awareness programs, seminars for families, and more. Pray for long-lasting results.
- Pray for the church to send more workers to the field where the needs are the greatest in less-saturated nations.
- Pray for YWAM locations to understand and minister to the needs of churches and the congregations they serve.
YWAM’s Dan Baumann teaching at partner church Oakland Baptist
Photo Credit: Oakland Baptist Church
- Pray for God to prepare churches in developed countries and in developing countries to send and support those called to Go.
Take Action:
- Identify all of the partner churches that are involved with your location. Display a map with each church marked. Pray regularly for these churches.
- Host a thank you event for your partner churches. Brainstorm on ways they can even partner with one another to build the church.
- Schedule meetings with local partner churches and their pastors/leaders to listen to their needs and dreams without focusing on the needs and dreams of YWAM.
Lynn Green says, “The best way to maintain a relationship with local churches is to concentrate on how we can serve them.”.
- Invite partner churches to send a DTS student to the next DTS at your location.
- Identify local churches where there might partnership opportunities in the future but where none exist today.
- Encourage staff and students at your location to regularly attend and participate at a local church.
- Communicate partnering opportunities via YWAM channels, including, but not limited to:
- Outreach trips for youth groups: www.missionadventures.net
- Outreach trips for adult groups: www.missionbuilders.org
- Programs for children and teens: kkint.net
- For parents and families: ywam-fmi.org
- Schedule an outreach event with one or more of your partner churches.
- Offer to help one or more of your partner churches with a Mission Sunday type event to raise awareness within the church.
A partner church, Living Stones Christian Fellowship, praying over long term YWAM Richmond missionaries
Photo Credit: YWAM Richmond
- Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
- Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
- Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.
How We Prayed
October 2017 – Prayer for the Hindu World
- There was a lively discussion on Facebook about praying for Hindus. One person noted that they regularly pray that Hindus will know Jesus with not only their mind, but also with their heart.
- YWAM Surabaya, Indonesia prayed for the Hindu world and asked for prayer for pupils to join their DTS starting January 2018 and for staff preparation.
- YWAM Vanuatu, Oceania also prayed and asked for prayer for teachers that have a DTS background in education to come and teach children alongside locals.
Future Topics:
- December 14, 2017 Pyongyang
- 2018 Theme: YWAM Foundational Values (along with other topics)
Don’t Miss The Invitation:
- Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
- Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
- Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
- You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
- If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.